A Hawk Moth In Paris
by Pycho-logical
Summary: When you're a shut in villain hellbent on conquering the world, it's a wise idea to get out of the house every once in a while {Oneshot}


A Hawk Moth In Paris.

Disclaimer: I don't own Miracuous Ladybug, Zagtoon and Thomas Astruc own it!

As he pushes open the curtains of his bedroom, he is met by the sight of a beautiful spring morning. The traffic below seems light, there's hardly a cloud to be seen and even inside, he can feel the gentle heat of the sun. It's all a pleasant and delightful sight. That is almost enough to convince an evil villain to turn to the good side. In this case, it just convinced our protagonist to take a morning stroll to a patisserie for a fresh baguette. You know, he thinks he might even pick up a croissant or two while he's there.

Stepping out of the lair, he realises that it has been quite a while since he had last left the house. In this day and age, where groceries, takeaways, batteries and everything in between can be delivered to your house, he relies a great deal on home delivery. After all, if it helps him focus more on world domination and obtaining the Miraculouses of Ladybug and Chat Noir, then he may as well take advantage of the service.

That said being, Hawk Moth concedes that leaving the house every now and then might be good for his sanity, if nothing else. His mission… well it has not been going according to plan. Every akuma has failed so far. He did not expect his adversaries to be so, so… lucky. His own power is great. He could use Nooroo's power to capture and control the minds of anyone in Paris. Had he been up against one of the other Miraculous holders, the chances would be in his favour.

But Hawk Moth shakes his head at the thought. He could still do it. He still has time to take the earrings and ring for himself. It's only a matter of time before he catches them off guard. Until then, perhaps he could benefit from a day off. Or at the very latest, a day off.

Whatever could be said about his luck against Ladybug and Chat Noir, Hawk Moth feels as if this was the start of a good day. As he wanders from his base over to the area surrounding the Eiffel Tower, he feels pleased. The streets are clean, and there are few annoying groups of tourists dashing around the place. For a moment, he ponders over the decreasing numbers of the tourists from both from Continental Europe and afar. True, he was probably the main reason for this. Hawk Moth is under no illusion that his actions and attempts to secure the Miraculouses for himself were in any way beneficial to the Parisian Tourist industry. He had read of articles in various newspapers where restaurant and shop owners, tour operators and others consistently blamed him and his akumas for a significant decline in business. While they could complain all they liked, Hawk Moth knows that for his plans to come to fruition, there has to be sacrifices. So, if Paris's tourism economy has to suffer, then so be it.

And Hawk Moth crosses the street, ignoring the fact that those working in the Tourism Industry don't even like Hawk Moth.

Coming up to the nearest bakery, he peers in the front window. There, the window showcases some of this particular bakery's popular items, such as many varieties of baguettes and breads. But the patisserie sections is particularly mouth-watering to look at. Upon the window, he could see freshly baked croissants, macaroons, éclairs, tarts, and biscuits covered in red and black icing.

He takes another look. In the middle, there is a selection of those biscuits, and others with black and green icing. A card with the price announces that these are special 'Ladybug' and 'Chat Noir' biscuits, one that is a cherry flavour and the other being mint. He stops reading the rest of it after it says limit is two of each per person. He storms off.

For a couple of minutes, he doesn't feel all too hungry. He decides to walk further toward to the Seine, to put his mind at ease again. He wonders for a moment whether or not this whole walk was even a good idea to begin with. Paris has too much faith in Ladybug and Chat Noir. It's a faith that will come to disappoint them. He knows this to be true. As he comes up to the bridge, he stares into the deep waters. Ladybug and Chat Noir are superheroes, yes, but they are not immortal. They are human, just like him, and humans make mistakes. When that time comes, both of those two heroes won't only face the loss of their powers, but the faith Paris had for them will turn to hate and derision.

It's only when he lets out a breath when his stomach lets out an undignified rumble. Hawk Moth sighs and gives into the inevitable. He strolls away from the bridge towards the nearest bakery. He doesn't take much notice of the name of the place, but he is happy to see there's no gaudy Pro- Ladybug or Pro Chat Noir treats to be sold. He picks up a couple of croissants and baguettes from one of the owners. It's only when he exits the shop and takes a bite out of one of the croissants that Hawk Moth turns around to check the name of the shop – The Tom & Sabine Bakery Patisserie. He makes a mental note of the name while he polishes off the rest of the croissant. Perhaps it may be rude of him to eat on the street, but the pastry is so wonderfully buttery, with nice, crisp flakiness upon a first bite. If the croissant is that good, he can't wait to try the baguette with that nice cream cheese he got the other day.

Hawk Moth's delight with the tasty treat was somewhat damped as he hears the noisy chatter of young people. As the last bite travelled happily down into his stomach, a group of teenagers appear on the other side of the road, exiting the local college. Goodness knows what they're doing, but Hawk Moth is glad, somewhat, to see a teacher escorting them to who knows were.

However, he is unfortunate. Where ever they're going, it appears their intended location is in the same area of his base. Much to his delight. Hawk Moth finds himself stuck at the back of the crowd of young people, chatting, yelling and doing those obnoxious things teenagers do. He tries to keep a straight face and cross the road at a couple of points, but then finds that the tour groups have come out in force on the opposite sides of the road. Disappointed, he continues walking, despite the inane conversation teenagers seem to have.

"I'm telling you Alya, he'll never go for someone like me." Sighs one dark pigtailed girl towards the back.

' _oh god, don't tell me I'm listening into '_

"Oh, come off it Marinette." Her friend with the ombre hair pats her on the back. "You're amazing and you know it! Any guy, and that includes Adrien, would be so grateful if you give them the time of day!"

"I don't know…."

 _'Please stop talking. Please stop talking.'_ He begs internally, watching an oversized truck drive through a small side street. He could have escaped….

"Heck, I bet even Chat Noir would jump at the chance to go on a date with you!"

At that point, Hawk Moth doesn't know whether to gag or to roll his eyes. It's just his luck to be listening to this kind of drivel. His thoughts, however, are then interrupted by the snorting giggles of the Marinette girl.

"Chat Noir? Oh my goodness, Alya." She says in between snorts of laughter. "You ought to be a comedian."

"See, you just got to lighten up!"

Their conversation comes to an abrupt end when a familiar blonde haired boy and another friend in a baseball cap move over to their direction and begins to talk about something else. School work, or some banal activity. Hawk Moth doesn't care. At last, he is able to slip away from the crowd of people, once they turn left, leaving him to get away.

The day had so much potential. But Hawk Moth can't help feeling that all of those little things during his walk have placed him in a foul mood. The food from the bakery had been works of art for the tastebuds, but when faced with Chat Noir and Ladybug's popularity, the flavour is bound to dull somewhat. And that doesn't give him any hope for the rest of the day. As he walks past one of the small parks that are dotted around the area, he asks himself what on earth can he do to get out of this mood.

It's not something he does, but the action of someone else… Or more precisely, their inaction.

"Mama, I fell!"

Over by the playground, a small child, perhaps four or five, is loudly trying to attract the attention of their parent, more intent on her laptop . The child is pointing to his knee, which seems red, even from where Hawk Moth is standing. The mother only glances from her laptop to the child for a couple of seconds.

"Sweetie, it's nothing."

"But I hurted my knee! It huuurts!"

"Go back to the playground." The mother taps something on her keyboard as she says You'll forget about it in five minutes."

"But Mama!"

"It's a lovely day." The woman waves her hand around, barely looking up from her screen. "You go have fun. Mama needs to finish this report and answer all of these emails. Just stay around here."

As the child sniffs and walks away dejectedly, Hawk Moth can't help but smile. He needed this morning walk after all. Not just for a little variety in his schedule, but for reconfirmation in his motivation. Yes, Parisians would support Ladybug and Chat Noir to some degree. Yet, there was always another person in the city who was willing to accept his conditions for their own gains. Someone who would find themselves lost in a battle of their own emotions. When they face challenges, no matter how big or small, Hawk Moth would always be around to help them challenge their emotions to smash them down. Perhaps when it wouldn't be this child, but someone as equally determined to get what they want. That thought brings a happy, fuzzy feeling to Hawk Moth and he walks away from the snivelling boy, content with himself.

And he walks back to his base, safe in the knowledge that Paris would offer him another chance to take the Miraculouses. And after that? Maybe the world…

A/N

I got a little idea about Hawk Moth going around Paris in his civilian form while meeting Marinette and Adrien, unaware that either of them are his enemies; Ladybug and Chat Noir. It kind of turned into just a little short story about him wandering around Paris. Just to be clear, I have left it vague as to what Hawk Moth's true identity is. I don't subscribe to the main theory of who he is. But like I said, it's vague. For all I care, you can imagine that Hawk Moth's identity here is Mr Bean.

Im glad I could get this finished. I recently moved to Japan for a year of study, so I haven't been able to focus on my other story as much as I'd have like to. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this fic.


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